I posted awhile back that I was having phantom smells, and the only logical conclusion for me is that they are from a brain tumor. I just can't shake that thought. I'm usually good at overcoming my HA thoughts, but this one won't go away. Besides being a little forgetful, I have no other brain tumor symptoms. I try to reason with myself by saying with a brain tumor I would be smelling it everywhere, but that's not the case for me. But at times, I smell this strange exhaust smell for many minutes at a time, which is what leads me back to the brain tumor. Or would that be sinuses? I have fluid behind my eardrum, so I know I have some issues with that part of me. I'm just scared and needed to vent. Thanks for listening and any responses. I have an ENT appointment July 16th. Hopefully I'll get the good news I want to hear.

Im pretty sure it's not a brain tumor. Infact, brain Tumors can do the opposite but it's still an uncommon symptom of a brain tumor. I can bet it's your sinuses. Mine are terrible. I get a horrible taste in my mouth. Post nasal drip. They can do all kinds of things!

actually it isn't an uncommon symptom of brain tumor. my father had phantom smells. Phantom smells can be a symptom of simple partial seizures. these seizures originate in the temporal lobe. So for people with tumors in the temporal lobe, this is common. He always smelled nail polish or nail polish remover. to this day if I smell that, I look or start asking who painted their nails.

NOW having said that sinus issues can do it as well. AS can nothing sinister at all. My sister in law is always smelling stuff that isn't there. Anxiety/Stress can too.. this is especially true when one is afraid of phantom smells. I know I get them sometimes. a few years back I was getting them pretty often. At the time there were a lot of stressors going on in my life. and with my dad's BT history, it made it worse for me. You will find many posts here at AZ about phantom smells.

So while my dad did have a temporal lobe tumor and phantom smells, he also had slurred speech, inability to use his left arm and leg AND complete loss of peripheral vision in his right eye. Not comes and goes, but complete 24/7 loss.

Brain tumors are a common fear around here. in the 5+ yrs I've been a member, only one person has been dx'd with a tumor--benign menigioma. It was found incidentally on an MRI. It wasn't even big enough to cause symptoms. docs only remove those if they start impeding brain function. My sister had a HUGE menigioma removed in 2008. Hers was DEFINITELY impeding brain function. She had motor focal seizures but didn't have phantom smells. Her tumor was on her frontal lobe. she is, btw, doing fine now

So you may well be having phantom smells but that is in NO way a determining symptom of bt.

do something good for yourself today. Your mind/body will thank you for it.

MOST anxiety occurs on a subconscious level. JUST because you don't feel consciously anxious or had a day or two of calm doesn't mean your mind & body are relaxed. It can take months of reduced anxiety before a body goes back to a more non-reactive state

Thanks kmj and sixpack...I hope you are right. I try to remain positive, but I look at everyone else I see and think, "Well, they're happy because they don't have a brain tumor." I just wish I could move on from this. What's strange is I was just at church...no strange smells. When I'm outside, nothing strange. Just the regular breathing. I know I focus more on this when I'm not busy. This is a tough one. I'd rather have my hantavirus scare than this.

Thanks kmj and sixpack...I hope you are right. I try to remain positive, but I look at everyone else I see and think, "Well, they're happy because they don't have a brain tumor." I just wish I could move on from this. What's strange is I was just at church...no strange smells. When I'm outside, nothing strange. Just the regular breathing. I know I focus more on this when I'm not busy. This is a tough one. I'd rather have my hantavirus scare than this.

I can only tell you what I know based on my experiences. But I will tell you the more you fear those smells, the more likely your body will make it happen. It is just like any other symptom peeps have around here. the more it scares you the more it will happen or the more it will intensify. Remember BEASTY knows what scare you. but the 'evil' thing about all this, once a symptom quits scaring you, your mind will just get another to fill the SCARE spot. What stops this vicious circle is getting on the healing path......

MOST anxiety occurs on a subconscious level. JUST because you don't feel consciously anxious or had a day or two of calm doesn't mean your mind & body are relaxed. It can take months of reduced anxiety before a body goes back to a more non-reactive state

Yep. I do the same thing when I look at people. And I've had a ct scan even if it was without contrast but still I'm sure something would have came up to indicate if I had one. I'm working on getting rid of that fear. The symptoms I have are allergies and I got to get out of letting my mind tell me that it's brain cancer. And the what ifs. It's a tough one indeed. But the less I worry about it and occupy my mind the less the fear becomes. But it's hard sometimes cause of how my allergies make me feel and the dizziness and eyes being off. That triggers my anxiety automatically then there I go again thinking I've been misdiagnosed and no one believes me. So I'm trying to get out of that cycle and it's kind of weird how sometimes I think if finding a brain tumor would give me relief just so I can be free of the anxiety. But of course I do not want a brain tumor. I'm so sick of hearing the words brain tumor. If I was to end up with one then so be it I guess lol. I have to tell myself things like that just to calm my mind. It's hell, but it's cause our mind just isn't busy enough. That's why I'm doing research on ways to help my anxiety. Getting self help books, learning about vitamin defenciecies, ect. It's put me in the bed for too long now and this is not a way to live. I'm gonna do all it takes to never let anxiety control me again. It's for the devil. It is the devil. And I do not wish it on anyone!

And here I'm not even sure I want a CT scan. As sixpack and others have said, we just hop onto another symptom. Thanks for answering. I've put this reply in my favorites so I can go back to it for reassurance when I need it.

The ct scan without contrast didn't help me only cause I had someone on the very same day on another forum that she and I had same symptoms with same tumor and she had been misdiagnosed 3 three times and you know with an anxious mind that made me worry more. Now I want MRI but no money.

I had my first health anxiety battle at 19 and it was right after my first panic attack so I thought I had something wrong with my heart but it only lasted for a few months. Funny thing is, soon as I stopped worrying over my heart, I did not go to something else. And here now I am at 36 all cause of a sinus infection messing with my inner ears that made me feel off balance which was first time ever it had done that plus I never got sinus infections much anyway, but it turned into me later thinking I had a brain tumor and adding google to the mix, big no no! So once this fear is gone, I will not move onto anything else. It's weird cause I'm not much of a hypochondriac about every single pain, only right now if it's in the head region. But I've never moved on to other worries. I'm thankful I'm not that bad as others when it comes to ha. This is just a setback and reason why it got worse was cause of how my equilibrium was cause of my sinus infection. Walking was a challenge. I walked straight but felt like floor moved and that was a huge trigger to my anxiety. And google was a mistake it added on more anxiety so don't do that please lol. :)

And here I'm not even sure I want a CT scan. As sixpack and others have said, we just hop onto another symptom. Thanks for answering. I've put this reply in my favorites so I can go back to it for reassurance when I need it.

yeah I don't see any reason that you need a ct scan or mri. It is unlikely you would get lasting solace from either test anyway. When we are in the thick of it, it is so difficult to see the rational. at times we are down right irrational. One of the hardest things, I found, was taking responsibility for the way I was thinking. Finding reasons to stay in the mud and muck. I would get all HA in spurts. I would get over one thing and it may be three or four years before I got all wiggy again. It had to do with the stresses in my life. another facet of anxiety, I have found was that anxiety isn't locked into one type. it can morph around. it could maybe start with phobia, then move to GAD, then HA, then back to GAD.

btw---I would tell you, based on my experience, if your issues looked like my dad's or sister's.

MOST anxiety occurs on a subconscious level. JUST because you don't feel consciously anxious or had a day or two of calm doesn't mean your mind & body are relaxed. It can take months of reduced anxiety before a body goes back to a more non-reactive state

MOST anxiety occurs on a subconscious level. JUST because you don't feel consciously anxious or had a day or two of calm doesn't mean your mind & body are relaxed. It can take months of reduced anxiety before a body goes back to a more non-reactive state